Provided by: spectrwm_1.0.0-1_amd64 
NAME
spectrwm — window manager for X11
SYNOPSIS
spectrwm
DESCRIPTION
spectrwm is a minimalistic window manager that tries to stay out of the way so that valuable screen real
estate can be used for much more important stuff. It has sane defaults and does not require one to learn a
language to do any configuration. It was written by hackers for hackers and it strives to be small,
compact and fast.
When spectrwm starts up, it reads settings from its configuration file, spectrwm.conf. See the
CONFIGURATION FILES section below.
The following notation is used throughout this page:
M Meta
S Shift
⟨Name⟩ Named key
M1 Mouse button 1
M3 Mouse button 3
spectrwm is very simple in its use. Most of the actions are initiated via key or mouse bindings. See the
BINDINGS section below for defaults and customizations.
CONFIGURATION FILES
spectrwm first tries to open the user specific file, ~/.spectrwm.conf. If that file is unavailable, it
then tries to open the global configuration file /etc/spectrwm.conf.
The format of the file is <keyword> = <setting>. For example:
color_focus = red
Enabling or disabling an option is done by using 1 or 0 respectively.
The file supports the following keywords:
autorun
Launch an application in a specified workspace at start-of-day. Defined in the format
ws[<idx>]:application, e.g. ws[2]:xterm launches an xterm in workspace 2.
bar_action
External script that populates additional information in the status bar, such as battery life.
bar_at_bottom
Place the statusbar at the bottom of each region instead of the top.
bar_border[x]
Color of the status bar border in screen x.
bar_border_width
Set status bar border thickness in pixels. Disable border by setting to 0.
bar_color[x]
Color of the status bar window in screen x.
bar_delay
Update frequency, in seconds, of external script that populates the status bar.
bar_enabled
Enable or disable status bar.
bar_font
Status bar font.
bar_font_color[x]
Color of the font in status bar in screen x.
bar_justify
Justify the status bar text. Possible values are left, center, and right.
bind[x]
Bind key combo to action x. See the BINDINGS section below.
border_width
Set window border thickness in pixels. Disable all borders by setting to 0.
clock_enabled
Enable or disable displaying the clock in the status bar. Disable by setting to 0 so a custom clock
could be used in the bar_action script.
color_focus
Border color of the currently focussed window.
color_unfocus
Border color of unfocussed windows.
dialog_ratio
Some applications have dialogue windows that are too small to be useful. This ratio is the screen size
to what they will be resized. For example, 0.6 is 60% of the physical screen size.
disable_border
Remove border when bar is disabled and there is only one window on the screen.
focus_mode
Using a value of follow_cursor will make the window manager focus the window under the mouse when
switching workspaces and creating windows.
keyboard_mapping
Clear all key bindings and load new key bindings from the specified file. This allows you to load pre-
defined key bindings for your keyboard layout. See the KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES section below for a list
of keyboard mapping files that have been provided for several keyboard layouts.
layout
Select layout to use at start-of-day. Defined in the format
ws[idx]:master_grow:master_add:stack_inc:layout:always_raise:stack_mode, e.g.
ws[2]:-4:0:1:0:horizontal sets worskspace 2 to the horizontal stack mode and shrinks the master area by
4 ticks and adds one window to the stack, while maintaining default floating window behavior. Possible
stack_mode values are vertical, horizontal and fullscreen.
See master_grow, master_shrink, master_add, master_del, stack_inc, stack_dec, and always_raise for more
information. Note that the stacking options are complicated and have side-effects. One should
familiarize oneself with these commands before experimenting with the layout option.
This setting is not retained at restart.
modkey
Change mod key. Mod1 is generally the ALT key and Mod4 is the windows key on a PC.
program[p]
Define new action to spawn a program p. See the PROGRAMS section below.
quirk[c:n]
Add "quirk" for windows with class c and name n. See the QUIRKS section below.
region
Allocates a custom region, removing any autodetected regions which occupy the same space on the screen.
Defined in the format screen[<idx>]:WIDTHxHEIGHT+X+Y, e.g. screen[1]:800x1200+0+0.
To make a screen span multiple monitors, create a region big enough to cover them all, e.g.
screen[1]:2048x768+0+0 makes the screen span two monitors with 1024x768 resolution sitting one next to
the other.
stack_enabled
Enable or disable displaying the current stacking algorithm in the status bar.
term_width
Set a preferred minimum width for the terminal. If this value is greater than 0, spectrwm will attempt
to adjust the font sizes in the terminal to keep the terminal width above this number as the window is
resized. Only xterm(1) is currently supported. The xterm(1) binary must not be setuid or setgid,
which it is by default on most systems. Users may need to set program[term] (see the PROGRAMS section)
to use an alternate copy of the xterm(1) binary without the setgid bit set.
title_class_enabled
Enable or disable displaying the window class in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.
title_name_enabled
Enable or disable displaying the window title in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.
urgent_enabled
Enable or disable the urgency hint. Note that many terminal emulators require this to be enabled for
it to propagate. In xterm, for example, one needs to add the following line xterm.urgentOnBell: true
to .Xdefaults.
verbose_layout
Enable or disable displaying the current master and stack values in the status bar. Enable by setting
to 1.
window_name_enabled
Enable or disable displaying the window name in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.
Colors need to be specified per the XQueryColor(3) specification and fonts need to be specified per the
XQueryFont(3) specification.
To list the available fonts in your system see fc-list(1) or xlsfonts(1) manpages. The xfontsel(1)
application can help you to show the X Logical Font Description ("XLFD") used as setting in the keyword
bar_font.
PROGRAMS
spectrwm allows you to define custom actions to launch programs of your choice and then bind them the same
as with built-in actions. See the BINDINGS section below.
The default programs are described below:
term xterm
screenshot_all screenshot.sh full
screenshot_wind screenshot.sh window
lock xlock
initscr initscreen.sh
menu dmenu_run -fn $bar_font -nb $bar_color -nf $bar_font_color -sb $bar_border -sf
$bar_color
Custom programs in the configuration file are specified as follows:
program[<name>] = <progpath> [<arg> [... <arg>]]
⟨name⟩ is any identifier that does not conflict with a built-in action or keyword, ⟨progpath⟩ is the
desired program, and ⟨arg⟩ is zero or more arguments to the program.
The following variables represent settable values in spectrwm (see the CONFIGURATION FILES section above),
and may be used in the ⟨arg⟩ fields and will be substituted for values at the time the program is spawned:
$bar_border
$bar_color
$bar_font
$bar_font_color
$color_focus
$color_unfocus
Example:
program[ff] = /usr/local/bin/firefox http://spectrwm.org/
bind[ff] = Mod+Shift+b # Now Mod+Shift+B launches firefox
To undo the previous:
bind[] = Mod+Shift+b
program[ff] =
BINDINGS
spectrwm provides many functions (or actions) accessed via key or mouse bindings.
The current mouse bindings are described below:
M1 Focus window
M-M1 Move window
M-M3 Resize window
M-S-M3 Resize window while maintaining it centered
The default key bindings are described below:
M-S-⟨Return⟩ term
M-p menu
M-S-q quit
M-q restart
M-⟨Space⟩ cycle_layout
M-S-\ flip_layout
M-S-⟨Space⟩ stack_reset
M-h master_shrink
M-l master_grow
M-, master_add
M-. master_del
M-S-, stack_inc
M-S-. stack_dec
M-⟨Return⟩ swap_main
M-j, M-⟨TAB⟩ focus_next
M-k, M-S-⟨TAB⟩ focus_prev
M-m focus_main
M-S-j swap_next
M-S-k swap_prev
M-b bar_toggle
M-x wind_del
M-S-x wind_kill
M-⟨n⟩ ws_n
M-S-⟨n⟩ mvws_n
M-⟨Right⟩ ws_next
M-⟨Left⟩ ws_prev
M-⟨Up⟩ ws_next_all
M-⟨Down⟩ ws_prev_all
M-a ws_prior
M-S-⟨Right⟩ screen_next
M-S-⟨Left⟩ screen_prev
M-s screenshot_all
M-S-s screenshot_wind
M-S-v version
M-t float_toggle
M-S-⟨Delete⟩ lock
M-S-i initscr
M-w iconify
M-S-w uniconify
M-S-r always_raise
M-v button2
M-- width_shrink
M-= width_grow
M-S-- height_shrink
M-S-= height_grow
M-[ move_left
M-] move_right
M-S-[ move_up
M-S-] move_down
M-S-/ name_workspace
M-/ search_workspace
M-f search_win
The action names and descriptions are listed below:
term Spawn a new terminal (see PROGRAMS above).
menu Menu (see PROGRAMS above).
quit Quit spectrwm.
restart Restart spectrwm.
cycle_layout Cycle layout.
flip_layout Swap the master and stacking areas.
stack_reset Reset layout.
master_shrink Shrink master area.
master_grow Grow master area.
master_add Add windows to master area.
master_del Remove windows from master area.
stack_inc Add columns/rows to stacking area.
stack_dec Remove columns/rows from stacking area.
swap_main Move current window to master area.
focus_next Focus next window in workspace.
focus_prev Focus previous window in workspace.
focus_main Focus on main window in workspace.
swap_next Swap with next window in workspace.
swap_prev Swap with previous window in workspace.
bar_toggle Toggle status bar in all workspaces.
wind_del Delete current window in workspace.
wind_kill Destroy current window in workspace.
ws_n Switch to workspace n, where n is 1 through 10.
mvws_n Move current window to workspace n, where n is 1 through 10.
ws_next Switch to next workspace with a window in it.
ws_prev Switch to previous workspace with a window in it.
ws_next_all Switch to next workspace.
ws_prev_all Switch to previous workspace.
ws_prior Switch to last visited workspace.
screen_next Move pointer to next region.
screen_prev Move pointer to previous region.
screenshot_all Take screenshot of entire screen (if enabled) (see PROGRAMS above).
screenshot_wind Take screenshot of selected window (if enabled) (see PROGRAMS above).
version Toggle version in status bar.
float_toggle Toggle focused window between tiled and floating.
lock Lock screen (see PROGRAMS above).
initscr Reinitialize physical screens (see PROGRAMS above).
iconify Minimize (unmap) currently focused window.
uniconify Maximize (map) window returned by dmenu selection.
always_raise When set tiled windows are allowed to obscure floating windows.
button2 Fake a middle mouse button click (mouse button 2).
width_shrink Shrink the width of a floating window.
width_grow Grow the width of a floating window.
height_shrink Shrink the height of a floating window.
height_grow Grow the height of a floating window.
move_left Move a floating window a step to the left.
move_right Move a floating window a step to the right.
move_up Move a floating window a step upwards.
move_down Move a floating window a step downwards.
name_workspace Name the current workspace.
search_workspace Search for a workspace.
search_win Search the windows in the current workspace.
Custom bindings in the configuration file are specified as follows:
bind[<action>] = <keys>
⟨action⟩ is one of the actions listed above (or empty) and ⟨keys⟩ is in the form of zero or more modifier
keys (MOD, Mod1, Shift, etc.) and one or more normal keys (b, space, etc.), separated by "+". For example:
bind[reset] = Mod4+q # bind Windows-key + q to reset
bind[] = Mod1+q # unbind Alt + q
To use the currently defined modkey, specify MOD as the modifier key.
Multiple key combinations may be bound to the same action.
KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES
Keyboard mapping files for several keyboard layouts are listed below. These files can be used with the
keyboard_mapping setting to load pre-defined key bindings for the specified keyboard layout.
spectrwm_cz.conf Czech Republic keyboard layout
spectrwm_es.conf Spanish keyboard layout
spectrwm_fr.conf French keyboard layout
spectrwm_fr_ch.conf Swiss French keyboard layout
spectrwm_se.conf Swedish keyboard layout
spectrwm_us.conf United States keyboard layout
QUIRKS
spectrwm provides "quirks" which handle windows that must be treated specially in a tiling window manager,
such as some dialogs and fullscreen apps.
The default quirks are described below:
Firefox-bin:firefox-bin TRANSSZ
Firefox:Dialog FLOAT
Gimp:gimp FLOAT + ANYWHERE
MPlayer:xv FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
OpenOffice.org 2.4:VCLSalFrame FLOAT
OpenOffice.org 3.1:VCLSalFrame FLOAT
pcb:pcb FLOAT
xine:Xine Window FLOAT + ANYWHERE
xine:xine Panel FLOAT + ANYWHERE
xine:xine Video Fullscreen Window FULLSCREEN + FLOAT
Xitk:Xitk Combo FLOAT + ANYWHERE
Xitk:Xine Window FLOAT + ANYWHERE
XTerm:xterm XTERM_FONTADJ
The quirks themselves are described below:
FLOAT This window should not be tiled, but allowed to float freely.
TRANSSZ Adjusts size on transient windows that are too small using dialog_ratio (see
CONFIGURATION FILES).
ANYWHERE Allow window to position itself, uncentered.
XTERM_FONTADJ Adjust xterm fonts when resizing.
FULLSCREEN Remove border to allow window to use full screen size.
FOCUSPREV On exit force focus on previously focused application not previous application
in the stack.
Custom quirks in the configuration file are specified as follows:
quirk[<class>:<name>] = <quirk> [+ <quirk> ...]
⟨class⟩ and ⟨name⟩ specify the window to which the quirk(s) apply, and ⟨quirk⟩ is one of the quirks from
the list above. For example:
quirk[MPlayer:xv] = FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
quirk[pcb:pcb] = NONE # remove existing quirk
You can obtain ⟨class⟩ and ⟨name⟩ by running xprop(1) and then clicking on the desired window. In the
following example the main window of Firefox was clicked:
$ xprop | grep WM_CLASS
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Navigator", "Firefox"
Note that grepping for WM_CLASS flips class and name. In the example above the quirk entry would be:
quirk[Firefox:Navigator] = FLOAT
spectrwm also automatically assigns quirks to windows based on the value of the window's
_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE property as follows:
_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DOCK FLOAT + ANYWHERE
_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR FLOAT + ANYWHERE
_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_UTILITY FLOAT + ANYWHERE
_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_SPLASH FLOAT
_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DIALOG FLOAT
In all other cases, no automatic quirks are assigned to the window. Quirks specified in the configuration
file override the automatic quirks.
EWMH
spectrwm partially implements the Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH) specification. This enables
controlling windows as well as spectrwm itself from external scripts and programs. This is achieved by
spectrwm responding to certain ClientMessage events. From the terminal these events can be conveniently
sent using tools such as wmctrl(1) and xdotool(1). For the actual format of these ClientMessage events,
see the EWMH specification.
The id of the currently focused window is stored in the _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW property of the root window.
This can be used for example to retrieve the title of the currently active window with xprop(1) and
grep(1):
$ WINDOWID=`xprop -root _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW | grep -o "0x.*"`
$ xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME | grep -o "\".*\""
A window can be focused by sending a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW client message to the root window. For example,
using wmctrl(1) to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be focused):
$ wmctrl -i -a 0x4a0000b
Windows can be closed by sending a _NET_CLOSE_WINDOW client message to the root window. For example, using
wmctrl(1) to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be closed):
$ wmctrl -i -c 0x4a0000b
Windows can be floated and un-floated by adding or removing the _NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE atom from the
_NET_WM_STATE property of the window. This can be achieved by sending a _NET_WM_STATE client message to
the root window. For example, the following toggles the floating state of a window using wmctrl(1) to send
the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window floated or un-floated):
$ wmctrl -i -r 0x4a0000b -b toggle,_NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE
Floating windows can also be resized and moved by sending a _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW client message to the
root window. For example, using wmctrl(1) to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window
to be resize/moved):
$ wmctrl -i -r 0x4a0000b -e 0,100,50,640,480
This moves the window to (100,50) and resizes it to 640x480.
Any _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW events received for stacked windows are ignored.
SIGNALS
Sending spectrwm a HUP signal will restart it.
FILES
~/.spectrwm.conf spectrwm user specific settings.
/etc/spectrwm.conf spectrwm global settings.
HISTORY
spectrwm was inspired by xmonad & dwm.
AUTHORS
spectrwm was written by:
Marco Peereboom ⟨marco@peereboom.us⟩
Ryan Thomas McBride ⟨mcbride@countersiege.com⟩
Darrin Chandler ⟨dwchandler@stilyagin.com⟩
Pierre-Yves Ritschard ⟨pyr@spootnik.org⟩
Tuukka Kataja ⟨stuge@xor.fi⟩
Jason L. Wright ⟨jason@thought.net⟩
Reginald Kennedy ⟨rk@rejii.com⟩
Lawrence Teo ⟨lteo@lteo.net⟩
Tiago Cunha ⟨tcunha@gmx.com⟩